Gone
by Scifan
Summary: Birthday gift for Elflinn. John and Teyla are preparing for their up and coming wedding, but things go wrong.
1. Chapter 1

John and Teyla are preparing to go off world; they are getting things ready for their up and coming wedding. There's special incense that Teyla is hoping to find at a market place, that one of the Athosians recommended, for part of the wedding ceremony.

"I believe this is the last place that might have it. What are you going to do if we can't get any?" John asks with a slight impatient tone.

"I suppose we will have to see, if that time comes," she responses lovingly.

"If it was not for the fact that the Wraith set up an outpost on the world where we were able to get it freely we would not be here today," she says with a small sigh.

John gives her a reassuring smile, "Don't worry… it will be just fine, even if we have to invade a planet with a Wraith outpost."

Teyla can see John trying to resist a smirk, "Are you mocking me?"

"What? Why would you think that?" he quips back.

She playfully hits him as they approach the gate room.

As they step through the gate, they can see it opens up to a small field. Beyond that is a wooded area with a path leading to the marketplace.

It doesn't take them long to find what they came for, but they decide to relax and spend most of the day together without any interruption.

As they begin to walk up the path, towards the gate, they both get a feeling that they are being watched.

John cautiously lays his hand on his side arm and Teyla notices.

"You sense something as well," she whispers.

He simply nods to confirm.

Before they can get to the midway point of the path, they find themselves surrounded by men dressed in Genii uniforms. Teyla and John instinctively stand back to back to make sure no one sneaks up behind them.

"Look. We don't want any trouble and I doubt Ladon Radim does either," John tries to say calmly.

"My concern is not with that traitor. It is with you, Colonel Sheppard," the leader of the group blurts out.

John squeezes Teyla's hand gently and whispers in her ear, "I'll distract them while you get to the gate."

She begins to debate with him through her undertone, "I'm not leaving you here by yourself."

"Don't worry; I'll be there as soon as I can. You have to think of Torren, but if anything goes wrong… you keep going. You hear me?" he insists.

She nods her head mournfully.

"Hey!" the leader booms. "No talking you two!"

"You ready?" John asks Teyla.

She scans the area with her eyes and sees two sticks she can use as bantos rods, "Yes. I love you, John."

John smiles, "I love you too."

John draws his gun and begins to shoot as Teyla fights her way up the path and to the gate. She only hopes that she can get help to him quick enough.

As she approaches the open field she can hear the voice of the leader shouting.

"Stop or I will kill him right now!"

His words pierced her heart as she's about to stop, but another voice urges her to go.

"Teyla, go!" John pleads.

She runs towards the DHD.

"I love…" John begins to shout, but the sound off a gun firing ends his words.

She is immediately filled with sadness and emptiness, but she dials home. The men quickly try to reach her before she steps through. Some shoot at her, but miss. As soon as she crosses into the gate room, she demands them to raise the shield.

Woolsey stands over the gate room, on the balcony by the control room, "Teyla, where's Colonel Sheppard?"

She falls to her knees, buries her face in her hand and weeps.


	2. Chapter 2

Hours have passed and Teyla sits in her quarters waiting to hear of any news from the search party. Lorne's team, along with Ronon and Rodney, left as soon as they geared up to find John, whether he was dead or alive.

She stares at the incense in her hands and guilt begins to seep into her thoughts. She is startled when Woolsey calls her on her comm.

"Teyla, I thought you would want to know that Major Lorne is back. We'll debrief you as soon as you join us in the conference room," Woolsey says with a solemn tone in his voice.

When she gets there, they inform her that they couldn't find John anywhere. They did find a place where there was some blood, but they didn't know if it was his or not. Jennifer reassures Teyla that she and her team are testing on it, and she would tell her as soon as she got the result.

Teyla has heard enough and gets up to leave. She feels numb inside. Ronon jumps up and steps in front of her.

He gently places his hands on her shoulders, "Hey. We're all here for you. We'll find him… alive. Ok?"

She can't look at him, "This is all my fault and I just want to be left alone."

Rodney, Jennifer are by Teyla's side as well, now.

"This is most certainly not your fault," Rodney chides. "If it's anyone's fault it's Ladon's."

"I highly doubt that it is his fault as well. Teyla did say that they referred him as a trader and they seemed to know how Colonel Sheppard was," Woolsey speaks up.

"Maybe he's not involved, but I bet he knows a way how to find these guys," Lorne suggests.

Ronon gets a sinister look in his eyes, "I like that idea."

Woolsey sighs, "That is an action I can't permit. I'm sorry."

"I understand, Mr. Woolsey. Would you please inform me if you get more information?" Teyla asks.

"Yes, I will most certainly do that. Again, I'm deeply sorry, Teyla," answers Woolsey.

Ronon looks upset and is about show his rage, but Teyla lays a hand on his should to suggest him to relax.

"Ronon, would you mind walking me to my quarters?" Teyla sadly requests.

Ronon agrees and they walk off together.

Teyla speaks up loud enough for Ronon to hear, but not those around them, "As soon as Mr. Woolsey finds the whereabouts of the men that killed John, we will go ourselves and deal with them. And if that means we leave Atlantis to do it, then so be it."

Ronon has never heard such coldness come from Teyla before, but he agrees with her, willing to do whatever it takes to avenge John.

It takes no time for Ladon Radim to contact Atlantis with his regrets. He informs them that the men involved are no longer his men, they were once loyal to Kolya, and most likely why they went after John. He reassures the people of Atlantis that he and his men will find the men responsible and inform them of their location.

Later, Jennifer confirms that the blood found was John's. Woolsey suggests that they should send the bad news to John's family. John's team disagrees and they ask that they are allowed to at least retrieve his body before doing anything else. Woolsey reluctantly agrees.

--

A week goes by and Teyla nearly gives up hope on finding the men responsible for the lost of the man she deeply loved. If it wasn't for the support of her people, her friends and the innocence of her young son, she feared that she would fall into a deep depression.

Rodney impatiently bangs on Teyla's door, "Teyla. Teyla! Are you there?"

She opens her door, "Rodney? What is wrong?"

"We've been trying to get a hold of you," he says nearly breathless. "Ladon just gave us the location and his Intel believes that John is still alive."

"He's alive," she says with a shaky voice.

Rodney smiles, "We sure hope so. Everyone is ready and waiting for you at the gate. We already got a hold of Halling and he's willing to have Torren stay longer with him."

They both quickly get to the gate and head out to find John and the rouge Geniis.

Once they get to the planet, they meet up with some of Ladon's men that provided the Intel. They bring Ronon, Rodney, Teyla, Jennifer and Major Lorne's team to an old abandon building.

There, through the window, Teyla can see some of the men that ambushed her and John, especially the leader. She tries to see if she can see John anywhere, but he is nowhere to be seen.

When all the men are in place, they storm the compound. Bullets fly and at the end, all the former Genii are dead. Teyla tries to remain calm as they search the place for John. Time seems to take forever.

Finally, Lorne yells that they found him. Teyla, Ronon, Jennifer and Rodney run to where Lorne is and find John in a terrible state.

He was chained to the ceiling with shackles and his body hung limp. Most of his clothing was stripped away and they could see that he had been tortured.

"He's barely alive. I'm surprised that he survived this long," Jennifer says with astonishment. "We need to get him back to Atlantis… now."

--

As soon as they get John to Atlantis, Jennifer rushes him into emergency surgery. Besides the countless bruises, lacerations and contusions, he had a few broken ribs, a gunshot wound and he was bleeding internally.

The surgery is a success and Teyla is by his side as soon as she is allowed. She falls asleep at his bedside, with an elated heart and a peaceful mind.

John's eyes slowly open. He sees that he is back on Atlantis and he smiles when he sees Teyla sleeping next to him. He carefully brushes her hair back to see her face better.

"John?" she asks groggily.

She looks up to see him smiling and she smiles back. She cups her hands around his.

Tears begin to flow from her eyes, "I thought they had killed you. I felt so empty inside and do not wish to ever lose you again."

"I didn't think I would see you again either, but the only thing that kept me fighting was the thoughts of you and Torren."

John pauses. "It might be awhile before I completely get on my feet, but I really hate to postpone the wedding."

Teyla gives him a loving smile, "I for one do not wish to wait. Halling is willing to do the ceremony tomorrow."

John looks surprised, "But I'll still be in the infirmary."

"Then I suppose that there is no way for you to escape," She smirks.

John winces in pain as he tries not to laugh, "I didn't know that you were so cunning."

Teyla laughs.

It feels good to be happy again, to have the man she loves back and to be his wife. John is also delighted to be back and to be marrying the woman his loved since day one.

They know that their life will never be without trials, but they will never take advantage of every minute they spend with each other.

The End.


End file.
